Nursing caps required at your job?
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:o Are there still places that require nurses to wear nursing caps while they are at work? When I use to live in Wheeling,West Virginia I was told that nurses at the nursing home were required to... Read More

Dec 18, '08

i always wore white shoes, but they were Nikes, i never wore a dress but i know some Pentecostals nurses who wore dressess
caps were dirty and germ laden - not on my head

i always wore white shoes, but they were Nikes, i never wore a dress but i know some Pentecostals nurses who wore dressess
caps were dirty and germ laden - not on my head

Dresses sound cute and I might wear one with some cute nursing shoes,but the hat never!!!

Dec 19, '08

We were stopped at a traffic light the other day outside a sex shop, my wife looked over and laughed, "You should wear that to work!" in the window display was a black nursing uniform (leather or latex I couldn't tell) right down to the cap. This was the first cap I had seen apart from TV for a very long time.

And no I would not wear it, it wouldn't match my shoes.

May 8, '09

I graduated in 1968 and the Nursing cap, the all white dress uniform was required and I was very proud of it. By 1973 I was working in L&D, or ICU and haven't seen my cap since. Now I rarely see a nurse in white, not to mention a cap. I have tried to get a replacement cap just as a souvenier, but my school closed in 1984 and I haven't located a source.
My rotation immediately after my capping was orthopedics and I forever getting my cap knocked off by the traction bars on the beds. Since the caps had to be secured with bobby pins, it was painful. My head was sore by the end of every shift.
In my current job I wear street clothes, but I get nostalgic thinking about the memories of my classmates in the white uniform, cap and navy blue cape.

Where I got my BSN we got pins but I don't think caps were even an option. Do schools even make them anymore??

Our LPN school still does. At first I was not happy about it, but once I got used to wearing it, it wasn't so bad. You sure do get a lot of respectful looks from the older generation.

Sep 29, '10

I'm amazed at the comments about caps constantly being knocked off. When I wore a cap, and other nurses did as well, that was not my experience. The style of cap surely makes a difference, as does the way you wear it (on the back of your head v. on top of your head, for example). But an ordinary cap worn under ordinary circumstances should not be the constant distraction that I see described.

Sep 30, '10

I once had a casual job in a very small rural hospital's ER. During orientation, while reading though policies I found this "All nursing staff will wear braziers while on duty". I pointed it out to the other male nurse and the nurse manager. We all had a good laugh and agreed the policy needed updating. Now I wish I had complied with it and actually worn one. Do they make a bra for a 54 inch chest?

Oct 24, '11

I graduated in 1984 from a Regional School for Nursing located in Ontario Canada. During ALL clinicals except for the first semester, caps were required! We had a 'Forest Green' band along the top edge. They were cotton that had to be starched heavily to remain in form. The only time we were permitted to take them off was when we were giving a patient a tub bath or shower because the humidity caused the cap to flop. The hospital where I currently work there are still a few nurses that wear their caps. I love seeing them in passing. During Nurses week several of the nursing staff including myself wear our caps. It's fun for a week or so, but honestly I would not enjoy it if it was mandatory.

Oct 24, '11

Oh my gracious, I just thought of a few other things related to this topic. While in my own training, I had some friends also in nursing programs in other schools. I remember the students at the college in North Bay Ontario wore plastic caps (kind of like bleach bottle material), they had double thin RED bands. The students that attended the BScN at the University in Sudbury had starched plain white caps throughtout their four years. The students from the community college in Sudbury wore starched white little rounded caps, that in my opinion looked hideous....LOL. One last afterthought. My own Mother was a nurse and she handed me a tip early in my training about the starching of the cap. The school recommended that we have the caps professionally starched but my Mom told me how to make my own starch and to iron it into the cap, let it dry and repeat. IT WORKED!!! Never once in my entire time as a student did I have to have my cap starched professionally. I was able to launder on a regular basis as well, keeping it fresh and clean.